Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe

Recipe for Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe. Spicy Sabji / gravy made with paneer. Dhaba Style Paneer curry recipe with step by step pictures.

There is an old small restaurant called Inchara near our place. We used to frequent this place so often with Vinodh’s friends. We met there for our first date too. The place was always special. Food was always good and paneer masala was a constant order for me. Even though its been years since we went there, I have been craving it for sometime now. I made the paneer masala today and I should say that I am very happy. This recipe has been very minimally adapted from the cookbook by Pushpesh Pant.

This is a very hearty and delicious paneer gravy that goes so well with roti, naan or paratha. I like to make this paneer masala a little spicy. I have used a little bit of cream to make it a rich gravy but its totally optional. You can do without the cream and the gravy comes so delicious without the cream too.

Click the link below to find the recipes on the site that uses the main ingredient as Paneer.
Paneer Recipes

Here is a video of how to make Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe

Marinating and roasting the Paneer for Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
Dice the paneer into half inch cubes. Add it to a bowl. To the paneer cubes, add in the salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and half a teaspoon of besan (Indian chickpea flour). Mix well to combine. Marinate the paneer for 15-20 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan (preferably non stick) and add in the paneer pieces. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the paneer is nice and golden. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Now, we will make the gravy for the Dhaba Style Paneer Masala.
In the same pan in which we fried the paneer, add in a little more oil and ghee. Add in the cumin seeds and finely chopped onions. Make sure to finely chop the onions. Alternatively, you can grate the onions in a food processor and add.

Also add in the salt along with the onions. The salt will help the onions cook faster. After about five minutes of sauteing on a medium flame, the onions would be soft. Add in the ginger garlic paste and continue to saute for a good five minutes more.

The onions should nicely brown.

Once the onions are nice and brown, reduce the flame to low. On a low flame, add in the red chilli powder and black pepper powder. If you want a spicy paneer masala, adjust the chilli powder according to your taste. Add in the coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and kasuri methi. Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek powder. Saute for a few seconds.
Note: If you add the spice powders when the pan is really hot and the flame is high, the spices tend to burn. So always add spices having the flame low so the spices stay fragrant and does not burn.

Add in the Besan – Indian chickpea flour. Do not add a lot of besan. I have added about 1.5 tablespoon of besan. Roast the besan along with the other ingredients for half a minute.

Grind the tomatoes to a puree in a mixie. I recommend two Indian brand mixie which are heavy duty and does a wonderful job in the kitchen. Panasonic Mixie – 550 Watts and Bosch Mixie 1000 Watts. Do check the links online to buy.

Add in the pureed tomatoes to the pan.

Add half a teaspoon of sugar to the pan. Saute for around 10-12 minutes stirring constantly so the tomato mixture does not scorch at the bottom.

Once the mixture is thick, add in quarter cup of milk and cream. Cook for a minute. The milk and cream is optional. If you are making this for an everyday curry and do not want it to be rich, then omit the milk and the cream and it still comes out really great.

Add in the roasted paneer and mix well to combine. At this stage, if the mixture is very thick, add little hot water to adjust the consistency of the gravy.

Add in the coriander leaves and let the gravy simmer for just a minute.

Remove from heat and serve. A fantastic Dhaba style paneer masala is ready.